Dignity and respect issues in CCL3 Judge race

Nancy Flake

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, August 26, 2005

Mike Valdez, 47, a prosecutor with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, and Grady James, 57, a Conroe attorney specializing in family law, will be running against in the March election. Both men said they do not know whether Martin will seek re-election. Martin did not return a call from The Courier seeking comment Friday.

This will be the second time in four years Valdez, who has spent 15 years with the D.A.'s office, has run for a county court-at-law judgeship. In 2002, he ran against Mary Ann Turner, who became the first judge in County Court-At-Law 4.

Valdez is running now for County Court-at-Law 3 because, "As my card says, it's time for a change. It's time for a court that will treat everyone with dignity and respect. We need to have a court that's not making negative news, and I think I have the temperament and the experience at the county level that's needed."

Earlier this year, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a public warning and public reprimand to Martin for his courtroom behavior. In one incident in December 2003, apparently frustrated wit new policies that required posting a jailer outside a hearing room for probable cause hearings, Martin told a jailer at the door, according to the commission, "Get your ugly face out of my sight." He then told another deputy that if the jailer "can't follow orders, I'll have him locked up in his own jail."

In the second incident, Martin allegedly told a potential juror in a misdemeanor marijuana possession case, "The next time you ever come to court, if you look like you do when you come her, I'm going to put you in jail."

And last year, District Attorney Mike McDougal's office investigated Joann Bergh, who served as a court reporter in Martin's courtroom, because she worked for 18 years without a license.

During his years as a prosecutor, Valdez has worked with both misdemeanor and felony cases, and he is also the municipal judge for the city of Shenandoah. As the director of the Montgomery County "Shattered Lives" program, which re-creates fatal drunk-driving wrecks on local high school campuses to bring home the impact of underage drinking, Valdez knows that experience will help him with those types of cases that may come before him as a judge if he's elected.

"(The issue of) underage drinking is near and dear to me," he said. "They're good kids, but they made a bad choice. I don't know how to demonstrate that better than through 'Shattered Lives.' People need to be accountable and take responsibility for themselves. I can be tough on people who refuse to take responsibility."

He believes he can help streamline County Court-at-Law 3 by bringing computers into the courtroom and thinks his experience gives him an understanding of how to unclog a clogged docket.

"The reason we created County Court-at-Law 4 is because of the backup in the criminal cases," he said. "As far as what the court needs, it's someone with the knowledge to do that."

Valdez, who also sits on the board of directors for the Montgomery County Women's Center, is married to wife Deborah.

James, an attorney in Montgomery County since 1976, is a master in the 284th District Court, hearing cases for Judge Olen Underwood, and also lectures with the state bar association on family law.

"It's taken me 33 years to get into a place where I can give back to the community," he said. "I have been a master and kind of know what it's about. I've got special talents in terms of trial experience, I've been a student of the law, and I can add dignity and respect to the court."

While James has no criminal trial experience, he said the majority of work in County Court-at-Law 3 is civil cases.

"Any lawyer that gets into law doesn't know it all," he said. "It's no handicap at all. I've tried a huge amount of complex jury trials, and I know the rules of procedure and evidence and family law. You've got to work hard.

"I have things in terms of experience and knowledge."

James, a member of the Walden Community Church, spent 15 years doing rescue boat operations for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, especially during flooding, he said. He has three daughters, one of whom is a paralegal in his practice, with the second an attorney working with him who will take over the practice if he's elected. His third daughter is an assistant principal at Ben Milam Elementary School in the Conroe Independent School District.

The Republican primary will be March 14, with the general election taking place Nov. 7, 2006.